Nanette is leaving Ailene, Pat, Tricia and Kathy today. They will do some more sightseeing and would like to visit Musee d'Orsay and the Louvre on Wednesday, and of course fitting in more shopping!

Kathy is determined to cover entire Paris by foot., including the modern new part La Defense.

As much as we have tried to give you a flavour of the tour via this blog, the experience and joy de vivre among the group cannot really be expressed.

You just had to be here!

Don't miss the next one.

Paris by night

We took a boat tour on the Sine to see Paris by night. It was fabulous!

Les Passages

These are covered arcades for shopping. Quite the find!

Flowers for Francoise

Francoise is the receptioniste at the hotel and we bought her some flowers to thank her for her excellent service and her patience!

The Moulin Rouge is alive and well.

Monday, Sept. 27th

Aileen, Pat, Kathy, Tricia and Nanette are staying in Paris till Sept. 30th.

We took the bus tour again and enjoyed the sights of Montmartre,

Place de la Replublique, d saw a glimpse of the Sacre Coeur, and The Moulin Rouge

We even found The Passages!

Our last Dinner -Sunday evening

Ou last dinner together and Diana's birthday celebration.

It was delicious! Blood sausages, oxtail, pate, cod fish, lamb,baba au rum, brie, etc etc! We are all gaining weight, in spite of all the walking we do..

Safe trip home to some of our ladies!

More Paris tourist sights

Images of Saint-Germain-des-Pres; close to our hotel

Diana, our third birthday girl - enjoying a French onion soup.

In Luxemburg Park

The gardens are at their best - the end of September! Our gardeners, Lindsay and Pat took many photos.

The Orange Loop on the Bus tour took us past Montparnasse, Esplanade des Invalides, the Latin Quarter and the beautiful Notre Dame church.

Sunday, Sept. 26

Sunday morning, in the Jardin du Luxembourg, a beautiful park close to our hotel.

Ten ladies decided to tour the city on L'Open Tour Bus.

The After Party was in Kathy's red room (with two balconies and a shower!).

As you can see, we all had fun!

One of the delicious appetizers!

More restaurant photos

As you can see, a good time was had by all!

Diner Saturday night

Lindsay and Judy at our wonderful restaurant in Paris.

We had a choice of either an appetizer and main course, or main course and dessert. Lots of wine was needed to make sure everyone was happy after we found out we had rooms with double beds instead of twin beds.

But, true to form, everyone realized what a great location the hotel was at - right in the centre of trendy and expensive St. Germain, and walking distance to great shopping!

What an amazing group of women I am travelling with! Thanks to Francoise at the reception for her patience.

On the train to Paris

The ladies on the fast train TGV from Avignon to Paris.

It was not easy getting all the luggage on board, but we managed!

Paris - Here we come!

Saturday, September 25

Travel day to Paris - we hopped aboard the TGV - a hi-speed train that took us from Avignon to Paris in 2 hours and 40 minutes - normally an 8 hour drive. We settled in to our hotel - a charming place right in the heart of Ste. Germaine - again prime shopping area and right next to the beautiful Luxembourg Gardens. In the afternoon, our charming guide - Pierre, of course, led us on a 3 hour walking tour of the area - merveilleuse.

We stopped into a little bistro to warm ourselves up - wine naturally, since there has been a big change in the weather - a little cold and rainy. Wonderful dinner - again. Lots of wine was drunk by all and what was left we used for the party continuing back in the hotel. Tomorrow - free day for sightseeing.

Friday, Sept. 24

Today we are travellling to 3 of the most interestings spots in Le Luberon area. First stop was Notre-Dame de Senanque Abbey - a Cisterican monestary still active today. Founded in the 12th century the monestary is self-sustaining through sales of Lavender and Honey. The monks are a contemplative order and never speak except for one hour per day. In middle ages, their day started at 2 a.m., after sleeping on the unheated stone floors. Nowadays, they can sleep in until 4 a.m. - they have beds, but still no heat!

On to Gardes - a hilltop village/fortress carved out of the gold sandstone - absolutely beautiful and great shopping - we all had a great time finding our way through the alleys and narrow streets of Gardes. Then on to Roussilon - noted for its red pigments - and again a great tourist attraction with lots of shopping.

Tomorrow - PARIS!!!!!

Dessert was Creme Brulee infused with lavender honey.

It is Diana's birthday on the 26th, and we started celebrating it early!

It was a great day and everyone had a fabulous time.

Off to bed early for our trip to Le Luberon, Rousillion and Bonnieux tomorrow.

Rain in the forecast for the first time,
but we have had suvh great weather so far! No complaints.

This is our first course. Tatin Tomato Tart.

It was delicieuse!!

Liz and Mari
Above are Liz and Marion working as a team to fill the flowers of the zuchini with a delicious fish mousse.

Kathy on the right is showing off her skills as a mushroom decorator !

Lindsay carrying the goat cheese tray to the restaurant!

The crazy poultry guy on the left who showed us that the turkey had twins - and then he produced an egg! LOL!

Jean-Marc on the right explaining some things to us - in true French fashion - using his hands.

We were at Les Halles so early, we had the place to ourselves!

Fabulous selection of the freshest foods.

Here you see all sorts of mushrooms...

September 23, Cooking Lessons!

After some confusion, we met Jean-Marc at Les Halles, the equivalent of St. Lawrence Market. He explained the various foods to us. We had some good laughs at the poultry shop and learned all about cooking a chicken or so - including the head!

Happy smiles - new friends!

Wednesday

Wednesday evening... outdoors at another wonderful restaurant just 2 minutes from our hotel. We are so lucky to have such a central location - food, shopping, wine - all within walking distance - life is good!

Tonight's menu - zucchini tartar, gazpacho and salad, followed by pork with cream and mushrooms and then a toffee cake with coffee flavoured cream. Very difficult to choose our favourite meal so far.

Six ladies wanted to go back to St. Remy, where there is a large outdoor market every Wednesday. We shared a cab and in less then 40 mins we were there!
Enjoy some of the photographs taken at the market. It was fabulous! A good time was had by Patsy, Kathy, Marion, Diana, Judy and Nanette. Lindsay and Martha took the train to Marseille and the other ladies are enjoying Avignon!